page_title: Residential red zone
section_title: Demolitions
hierarchical_section_title: Residential red zone / Buyouts / Demolitions
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of the residential red zone in Kaiapoi in May 2015.
context_page_description: The residential red zone refers to areas of land in and around Christchurch, New Zealand, that experienced severe damage in the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and were deemed infeasible to rebuild on. Through voluntary buyouts, the Crown acquired and demolished or removed over 8,000 properties. The majority were located in a broad swath of the eastern suburbs along the Avon River / Ōtākaro that had suffered damage from soil liquefaction.
context_section_description: Once the Crown bought the land, tenants vacated the property, and insurance settlements were finalised, private contractors were hired to demolish the houses. Some houses, rather than being demolished, were moved to other areas. It took several years until all demolitions and removals were completed in 2015, in which time the red zone contained many abandoned buildings that attracted squatters and crime.
  After removing the structures, the Crown then assumed responsibility for upkeep of the land. The land was treated by levelling it and planting it with grass. However, indigenous plants, as well as trees and shrubs over a certain height (4 meters or 6 meters depending on context) were retained. Depending on the natural environment of the property, one of six different treatment types was applied: grassland, riparian buffer area, dune, estuarine edge, wet areas, and no clearance treatment (for areas with existing non-intensive land use such as grazing). Owing to the policy of leaving most vegetation in place, many trees and shrubs that once marked lot boundaries still remain in their rectangular alignments around the houses that have been demolished.
caption: The red zone in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, in 2015 after most demolitions were completed.
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